21A/N: Hiya folks! Not much to say here this time around, but I'm loving the feedback from the recent fanfic so far ^^ 4 reviews, 4 favs, and already 10 follows, and considering this was posted around 6-7 last night, I find those to be good odds ^^.
And as followed, still looking for a Danganronpa Ultra Despair Girl's cover, so any info you can send will help :P Only condition- it can not have fukawa on it for obvious reasons XP. So if you find one, that'll award you with several nice bonus episode! But, if you somehow manage to make it yourself (provided it's obviously not stick figures of course XP) then you'll be given a grand DOZEN free bonus episodes of your choice and then some ^^
So with that outta the way, enjoy!
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Entry #2:
Dear Mr. D,
I introduced my new friend to my other friends today, and they had a blast! We played games, told stories, and so much more! At snack time we even told a funny joke that made milk spill out their nose and everybody laughed. I just know we're going to be great BFFs!
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Around a year and a half ago... A certain incident completely changed the world. Apparently, the origin of the incident was a student movement at a certain school... But the school covered it up, so it was too late when the world finally realized... It grew out of control, becoming a monster that swallowed the entire world. It couldn't have just been some riot or student protest. It had to be something far deeper. That much should be obvious... It did come from Hope's Peak Academy, after all.
Eventually, the incident grew so much in strength and scale that it threw the world into despair. Theft, arson, brutality, murder... The violent crime rate went off the charts. Violence spawned revenge, which fueled more violence, driving the crime rate even higher. Before long, a global war broke out. A war not for land or ideals, but only for the sake of war.
A war that tainted the world with despair.
But even with all this evil and chaos, I had complete faith in my world. And even when it felt like I was falling, I kept believing. "It's still okay, it's alright..." Then, I found out that 7 of my classmates died suspiciously. I fell further still. But even then, I kept telling myself, "It's all going to be fine, don't be afraid..." But the realization that it was too late came to me like the ground rushing up to break my fall.
A group of men I had never seen before broke into my house and separated me from my family. The world I had been living in up to that moment collapsed. Everything changed. And since that horrible and unjust imprisonment, a year and a half passed... I was supposed to be a normal high school girl, but instead I became a complacent prisoner.
And what was waiting for me at the end of that despair was a despair even deeper, even worse. There's no use in keeping hope. That's what I was forced to realize once again...
And with that, the TV turned off.
This was officially the worst day of Komaru's entire life.
In little under an hour, she went from some semi-average girl who was imprisoned in an apartment for a year and a half, was broken out by a deranged killer animatronic sent there to kill her, was rescued by some teen outta nowhere with a bunch of men and women who looked like they came straight out of an action movie, was chased across the streets by even more rioting bears into a diner where they continued the slaughter, and if that wasn't enough the TV broadcasted a message by a group of children and a fashion model declaring war on adults.
It only got worse from there.
On the bright side of anything, upon the message reaching it's end, Komaru was left in a mix of shock and joy to find out her sister was not only part of the new bonus game, but was still alive at the same time. It was only comforting since it declared she was indeed alive after all this time, but all the same it presented another problem.
To get out of the new apparent "Game", you had to either die, or somehow win, which Junko herself declared with excitement at how that was all but impossible. However, as if to solely target her, there was one alternative way to get out of the game. Over time, contestants of the future game were going to be displayed over a blimp within the city, and if someone wanted out of the game without losing or somehow winning, they needed to capture one of the so-called bonus demons and bring them to a Monokuma or a child who was playing the game.
And that didn't guarantee anything if the Monokumas or children didn't decide to kill them anyway.
But the one way that did assure them a way out was also the worst case about this scenario. While she couldn't figure out why Junko would target out her sister personally, you were guaranteed freedom if you managed to bring back Naegi to any of the aforementioned people. But unlike everyone else where it was an option between bringing them back in alive or dead, in this case scenario, she was required to be brought in dead by all standards. She couldn't be captured alive, she couldn't be just brought to them and then killed right before them, she had to be one-hundred percent dead.
So now here she was, stuck in the middle of whatever twisted game they were talking about in a practical warzone of killer teddy bears, a factor she realized all too quickly. It was here that she slid down the pillar behind her to the ground, squeezing her head in frustration, agony, terror, sadness, and most of all a never-ending whirlpool of despair.
"W-Why is this happening?" She cried to herself. "I-If I knew this was going to happen, I would've stayed in my room forever..."
"'Ey wha' are youse 'um bearths doin' in mah 'itchen?!" A voice suddenly yelled out in rage, catching Komaru's attention. The voice itself sounded like it was echoing all over the place, but the description she heard was all she needed to know it was emanating from the kitchen. "'o on, 'et! 'et!"
The next thing Komaru knew, literally dozens of Monokuma's came rushing out of the kitchen in a mad dash, heading straight for her. "A-Ahhh- no!" Komaru yelped in fear as she began to run away. "Whoa-!"
*thud*
"Oww..." Komaru was caught by surprise as her feet accidentally stepped on the very same Hacking Gun she dropped moments ago, only just now realizing how it slipped out of her hands seconds earlier. As if to add insult to injury, literally in this case, the next thing she was greeted with was her head colliding with the floor below her, momentarily dazed as she landed forehead first into the carpet yet rough floor. "Ngh..." Her momentary daze was met with absolute terror as her vision focused once more, clearing the up the sight of the dozen monokuma's heading straight for her.
It was already too late for her to grab the gun to defend herself.
"No..no...no...!" Was all Komaru could mutter before covering herself with her arms defensively. This was it, there was no way she was going to be able to fend off this many Monokumas all at the same time when she didn't even have the gun in her hands. They were going to rip her to shreds, pull her apart, rip her innards out in a brutal gory fashion. It was game over for her.
At least it would have, under normal circumstances. Perhaps it was another miracle brought on to her, or perhaps it was just the power of Hope itself answering her cries of help. Whatever the case was, the next thing she knew all the Monokumas were running straight past her, not even giving her a second thought before leaping out the windows to continue the carnage out on the streets. It took Komaru a few seconds to realize this as she opened her eyes again, overfilled with relief at the Monokuma-less diner.
"T-They...They left...?" She wondered to herself, looking around. Sure enough, it was exactly as she said. There wasn't a single Monokuma left within the diner for reasons she had yet to contemplate. Maybe they weren't trying to kill her after all? Maybe they only targeted full-fledged adults? Those would be the only two possible explanations behind this, or at least ones that made sense to her.
She knew better though than to continue on with this line of thought. People were still dying all over, and standing around to wait and see what happens would only end with her death. Quickly shaking her head of the few moments of dizziness she still had, she picked up the gun as she observed her surroundings once more. "That Yamada guy said there was supposed to be more people here, right?" She asked herself, trying to think. "We were supposed to meet up...so where are they-"
"Oh 'ood, you 'ah 'ere!" A voice suddenly called out with glee, catching Komaru's attention once more.
"Huh...!" Komaru couldn't believe her luck. "Oh thank god! A survivor!" She cried. A survivor! An actual factual survivor! And a chef no less! She couldn't tell if he was an adult or a teen, given the seemingly 4 foot height, but she would honestly take anything at this point as she rushed over to him with relief.
The chef himself was dressed just about the same way you'd expect any chef to be dressed in, except as opposed to the casual white attires the chefs always wore, this one was donned in red, from his clothing, to his apron, even to his chef hat. At least his smile was comforting to her, like he was expecting him to meet her here.
"P-Please... you have to help..." Komaru sniffled, trying to contain the fear and small amount of joy she felt at the moment. "T-Th-The bears...killing everyone..." She hated herself for getting choked up again like she did with the waitress. If she had spoken in a calm demeanor maybe the waitress would still be alive at this point, or at least the police would possibly be on their way.
""ow, 'ow, you juth calm you'self 'hild," the chef replied leading her over to a chair by the kitchen door, "'em 'ears ain' 'llowed in dith pa'the!" It would've been more reassuring if she could understand half the things coming out of his mouth, he had a strange slur to it. But if she got the gist of what he was saying though, he said those bears weren't allowed in the diner...
Why was that? Better yet, what made him so different that the bears chose to listen to him in the first place? No, the best question to ask: WHY WERE THEY LISTENING TO HIM AT ALL?!
"'ow you ju'th 'tay pu', an' ah make you mah be'th di'th!" He ordered, quickly dashing into the kitchen once more. This didn't feel right, none of it did. Why did the bears just listen to him out of nowhere like that out of all the other people? And why did they completely ignore her when the chef shooed them out of the restaurant as such? "O'ay, i'th doon!" He announced, quickly coming back out of the kitchen with a warm plate of food right before her.
She had to admit at the very least of things, it did smell rather pleasant, but that was quickly put off by the appearance of the bizarre looking food. It looked like some mix of grounded up meat chunks stashed together at the last second. It was actually rather amazing how the food didn't smell as bad as it looked, cause the look alone was enough to make her feel sick.
"'ow, 'o on an t'y ih!" He suggested, scooping up a portion in a wooden spoon as he offered it to her.
"O-Oh, umm t-that's alright, I'm really- mmph!" She was cut off quickly after as he wasted no time shoving the first spoonful into her mouth.
"'ell? 'o you 'ike? 'o you 'ike?" He wondered with excitement.
It was hard to describe anything at the given time, but to be honest it tasted wonderful! Despite the appearance of the food, it definitely matched the aroma of the food to begin with. The temperature was matched to absolute perfection given it the perfect temperature that wasn't too cold, but at the same time didn't burn her tongue all the same. The texture itself was also indescribable! It had a strange mix of a meaty chunk like ham and bacon, but at the same time was smooth like vanilla pudding, which actually felt better than it sounded.
Mixing it all together it created a unique and incredible dish that was the very definition of not judging a book by it's cover. There were definitely some spices put in, but those only enhanced the flavors of meal itself, it didn't overtake the flavor which would've taken over the taste entirely. Even with the finger the taste of the food was like a mix of every pasta and meat dish she ever had in her life! Mixing every single bit of it to create such a perfect recipe-
Finger. Komaru blinked at what she just said to herself. Clearly she was just imagining things too much as she stopped chewing briefly, taking out the thick piece of meat she caught in the back of her mouth. There's no way there was something-
"Finger...?" Komaru spoke to herself as she looked at what she pulled out. Nail, skin, even some notable blood vessel that were almost missable. It was a finger. Komaru's sudden meal apparently had a finger in it. Looking back to the dish itself, her pupils went blank. At least several more noticeable fingers were here and there, and what she could only believe was a toe. Her vision began to haze over as she slowly raised the finger in front of herself and the chef once more, mouth slowly gaping open with utmost horror.
She knew she swallowed some of it.
"'ell? Youse 'ike, 'ight?" The chef asked with joy.
"...E...Eg...Eghh...Urghghghghhh...Oofp-!" She couldn't hold it down.
*BLAAAEGH!"
All of her stomach contents, including the bits of breakfast she had that morning, were suddenly heaved from her mouth as her stomach vacated the premises, falling to the ground in front of her and knocking the dish away in terror. She couldn't believe it, not one bit of it. It was one thing to experience everything she did in the short manner of minutes since she woke up this morning, but this was by far the most sickening thing she had done today, and not just because she literally threw up a few seconds ago.
She just ate a person. She actually chewed a bit, swallowed some, and ate whatever twisted dish was served to her by this maddening chef. She couldn't even keep her emotions bottled up as she regurgitated another healthy mouthful of food onto the floor in front of her. The shock of the value was almost enough to make her pass out, the fear of it all being the only thing to keep her from doing so.
"Allo lavine!" The chef screamed, looking at his destroyed dish as he scraped it up with his hands. His brief moment of fear quickly turned to rage as his eyes began to glow once more. "All youse 'ustomer'th ju'th like th'e 'th'aid! Youse all ea' mah mea', 'urn it to shi', and 'en ea' more, and 'urn 'at to shi' 'oo! YOUSE ALL EATIN' MAH SHI'! ALL YOU EA' I'TH SHI'!" He screamed running back into the kitchen. During the few brief seconds the swivel door was opened, Komaru's eyes narrowed in even more terror.
By the back of the kitchen, over by the fridge, was the corpse of the Future Foundation member. The member she was supposed to meet here soon after escaping from her apartment. Only now, he wasn't even alive to tell her what to do. All she could tell by the bloodied legs and hands that were chopped off was who she was just eating a moment ago. And you'd think seeing the corpse of the person would be enough to keep her attention distracted forever, but no.
Instead, the next sight she greeted with was the mad chef blocking the view of the corpse with his own person, and the large meat cleaver nearly his size that he was wielding in his hands.
"If youse nah gonna be mah cu'thomer, den ah ma'e youse mah 'eal! AHHHHHHHHHH!" He roared in absolute fury. It was only now while his mouth was hanged open from rage that Komaru could see why she was speaking so strangely. He didn't have a tongue himself.
"Ahhhh!" Komaru quickly yelped as she jumped to her feet quickly, sprinting down the floor before the meat cleaver struck her. She didn't have time to catch her breath despite how dizzy from sickness she felt or mortified about what she just consumed awhile ago. She was going to have to hold in her stomach for now as the mad chef made a break for her at surprising speeds. Much to her shock, the next attack he attempted caused him to leap through the air itself, jumping at least several feet off the ground and narrowly missing her as she ducked outta the way, landing on the floor.
"'ere 'ittle 'hicky 'hicky..." He taunted with a sinister grin, walking slowly over to her as Komaru backed away in fear.
It was only now that she remembered the hacking gun in her hands. With nothing else to do for the time being, the only logical sense she could decide was shooting out a blue blast of energy straight into the chest of the surprised chef. On the up side, it came into direct contact! On the down side, it didn't so much as tickle the chuckling chef as he poked where she hit him.
"'irl, youse 'ot 'ocks for b'ains! 'ose 'uns o'ly 'ood for mo'okumas!" He yelled in fury again as he lunged at her. It was much like the first bear that attacked her in the apartment. She didn't have enough time from this position to roll out of the way, he was far too close! It only came from heaven's mercy that his attack was blocked by the table she suddenly backed under, catching his cleaver in place as he grumbled in anger. He tried putting his right foot on the table to help him pull it out easier, leaving his left foot entirely exposed.
Fortunately for Komaru heaven didn't seem to be done assisting her as her hands brushed against something sharp. It was the only means she had to defend herself at this moment, and she wasted no time in doing so.
*shnk*
"OWOWOWOWOWOOWW!" He screamed in agony as he grasped his left foot, falling to the ground. Komaru only crawled out of the way before, tears still rolling down her face as she dared not look back. "Yose 'amn 'irl, youse 'tabbe' mah 'oot!" The chef called out in anger, clutching his bleeding left foot in agony. He didn't think she had it in her, much less did she even know it was near her, but her quick thinking may have been the only thing to buy her enough time by stabbing the chef straight through his shoe with the surprisingly sharp knife. She didn't hesitate to leave the cannibal chef to his bleeding fate, too horrified with him and herself for what he got her to do.
All she could do was run. Run through the back exit and just escape from the twisted diner where the meal of the day is apparently fresh human, with a side of lettuce.
She didn't even know what she could do at this point. The man she was supposed to meet was dead, hopefully not swirling in her stomach still after she emptied her morning breakfast, and she had no idea where to go in this city that she could see literally burning down and getting torn apart before her. All she could do was run and keep on running till she couldn't run further.
Was this it for her? Was there really nowhere else to go? She had the hacking gun, maybe if worse comes to worse, she could just fight her way out of the city. That strange psychopath did state how those guns only worked on Monokuma, and seeing how he believed he was capable of killing her at the time, she doubted he was doing anything to purposely lie to her. There would be no benefit to it.
Which left her to now. Just her, her running legs, her tearing eyes, and a city full of murderous machines and children.
*chakk-chackk-chak-chak, chak-a-chak-akk-chk-chk-chk*
"Ngh...Huh!" Komaru gasped in shock, for the first time this morning for joy. Or at least the closest thing to it.
Up ahead at the nearby park, she could hear and see a helicopter, one that was either ready for take off, or one that was just landing here. Wasting no time to take her only exit out of the city, she bolted as fast as she could to the flying machine, spotting several people similarly dressed like the Future Foundation people that were with Yamada when they saved her.
"Hey!" She called out grabbing the attention of the five members. She panted trying to catch her breath for a brief minute, exhausted with the nonstop running she went through since her encounter with the chef. "Are you...huff...Are you people with the Future Foundation?" A man and a woman looked at each other questionably as if having no idea what she meant or whether to answer. "A guy named Yamada Hifume...He said he was from the Future Foundation and you guys could rescue me."
"Ngh!" The man gasped to himself silently before looking over to the woman once more. Receiving a nod of approval from her, the man finally spoke, "What is your name?"
"K-Komaru," she paused briefly to wipe the sweat from her eyes, "It's Komaru Naegi." The answer seemed to draw the attention of the other two members as they joined in on the group.
"Looks like our information about a Captive in this town was correct." The woman said, who will be referred to as Member D, analyzing the data from a touchscreen pad.
"So, where is Hifume Yamada? Is he safe?" The second man to her right asked, Member E.
"H-He told me to run, so I... I haven't seen him since..." Komaru fretted.
"I see..." Member D spoke up again, pocketing her touchscreen once more. "I can't reach him, so I thought he might be in danger...But then again, this is Hifume Yamada we're talking about. I can't say I approve of his learning methods, but the guy is very resourceful. I'm sure he can handle himself..."
"B-But, there was someone from the Future Foundation, back in the restaurant-!" The memory of her last meal caused a gurgle to emanate from her stomach, covering her mouth to hold back her leftovers. "O-Oh god...T-That chef he...he..." Komaru shook her teary head trying to forget about the whole ordeal.
"Chef?" Member E asked. Komaru noticed how the several members were all exchanging questionable glances at one another. "Did this chef...Were the Monokumas attacking him too?"
"Huh?" It was the only pleasant memory Komaru's had for the entire day, recalling how all those murderous machines completely ignored her. "N-Now that I think about it, n-no...H-He told...He told them to get out of his diner, and they ran right by me...I thought they were gonna kill me..."
"Jesus Christ..." The man muttered to himself, quickly pulling out a cell phone with no hesitation of dialing it. "Hey, we found another remnant, it's over by the Diner where we were supposed to rendezvous, I repeat, we found another remnant." Those were all the words Komaru could hear him say as he ran towards the horrifying diner she just escaped from.
"F-Found one? Remnant? What are you talking about?" It was almost fascinating how the newest people she met throughout the day were giving her more questions than answers about her situation. "Um... What exactly is going on here? I still have no idea what's happening...I don't know who you are, or where I am, or anything..."
'I see... Well, we don't have much time, so I'll give you the short version." Member C, the man on the woman's right, said. "First thing's first though," he paused pulling out his own device, "have you seen this girl before?" He asked showing the familiar face.
Once again Komaru was met with disbelief. Whatever these people were, they had the exact same image of her sister that she saw on TV a few minutes ago. And like that one, this one was also wearing a similar-looking outfit like the woman before her, granted for a more suitable size. "O-Of course I do, that's my sister, Makoto Naegi!"
"Have you seen your sister at any given time in the last two months?" He quickly asked, not giving her even a second of peace.
"N-No, why would I?" The look he was exchanging with the other two made her uneasy, but at the same time more curious. What was going on here, and why was her sister involved in everything.
"First off, we're from an organization called the Future Foundation. We're trying to help the world recover from the incident. You know what I'm referring to?"
"Incident..." Komaru repeated in a questionable tone. She had some idea it might relate to what's going on around here, but if they were sent to assist in this matter so quickly, then there's no way it could relate to what is currently happening.
"It's behind your imprisonment." The third member, B, explained. "The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History. It was more than just an incident... It shook the foundations of society to the core...And it wasn't just one. Various incidents broke out all over the world. And then, the war... The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History includes that, too. Because of all this, the world just crumbled... But, in all that chaos... Future Foundation is trying the best we can to bring hope back to this world."
"Oh, and as for this town..." Member C added.
"..." Komaru just stood there agape with her mouth open. She couldn't believe any of this, into a single word. Even after all the horrible events she's witnessed up to this point, the disturbing sights before her eyes, the idea that the entire world had come to an end during her imprisonment was still too far to believe.
"Are you alright? Are you following?" Member D asked.
"Ah, y-yeah... It's just a lot to take in, that's all. It's... hard to hear."
"I'm sorry, but you need to know." Member B apologized. "This town is an island off the coast, and controlled by a powerful IT corporation. It's commonly called Towa City. Towa City used to be a nickname, but now, it's what everyone calls it."
"Ever since the government stopped functioning, due to The Tragedy, " Member C continued, "Towa Group and their cutting-edge technology are running the show here."
"Towa Group is a corporation that played a huge part in rebuilding the world." The woman commented. "Ever since The Tragedy, air pollution has made a lot of the planet uninhabitable. But Towa Group created an air purifier that can clean massive quantities of air at a time. They invented it only three months after the safety order to stay indoors was given. Even after all this time, people all over the world are still clamoring for it."
"But the clean air isn't the only thing that draws people to this town." Member B looked around as he spoke. "Because of Towa Group's influence, this city has suffered far less damage than others."
"Because it's relatively unaffected by The Incident," the woman said as she examined her touchscreen once more, "it's of special interest to us."
"But this kind of riot in Towa City..." A look of concern crossed the C member's face. "This is something we never anticipated..."
"So it's a riot?" Komaru asked to clarify. "Why is something like this happening?"
"Honestly, even we have no clue whatsoever as to what's happening here." B regretted to inform. For such a powerful group with the ideals of fighting against despair, even he couldn't help but be ashamed the Future Foundation wasn't on top of this information. "Where those Monokumas came from, why they're attacking the city...And that broadcast by those creepy kids, none of it makes any sense at all...Especially with... her... still being alive..."
"Her..." Komaru thought back briefly to the woman she saw along with those kids. "You mean that high school student with the pink hair, right?" She was sure that was the correct answer given the simultaneous attentive stare they all shot at her.
"Do you know who this woman is?" The woman asked as she handed Komaru the touchscreen again. This time it was displaying an image of the fashion model Komaru and her sister knew.
"Y-Yeah, that's Junko Enoshima, she was on the cover of numerous fashion magazines my sister and I read."
"What you're looking at, is a ghost."
"Huh?" Komaru raised a brow at the questionable term. "What do you mean a ghost?" It was a little unsettling seeing the uneasy glances the members gave one another, but she needed to know what was happening.
"About six months back, the girl you're looking at died." Komaru flinched at the B member's statement. "Junko Enoshima was really the Ultimate Despair, the one who started The Incident several years ago." To say Komaru's disbelief stopped growing would be a complete lie. They wanted her to believe that a fashion model, a kindhearted one she and her sister read about numerous times, was singlehandedly responsible for bringing the end of the world?!
"She was the one who brought despair onto the world itself, creating worldwide panic and chaos everywhere." D continued. "And to ensure everyone else still alive would fall under more despair, she broadcasted a Mutual Killing Game live on TV, spreading her despair further across the reaches of the globe."
"But as fate would have it, hope was reborn." The D member woman said with a small smile. "Your sister and several other students were the survivors of the massive Killing Game orchestrated by her, but your sister defeated her by the end of it."
"N-Naegi?" Now there was no telling how Komaru could take this. Not only was one of their longtime idols some sinister villain that ended the world, but they expected her to believe Naegi actually defeated her in the end? Naegi had a hard enough time trying to make friends due to her shyness and personality, let alone handle an argument for more than five minutes with a complete stranger. Then again, seeing how it's been nearly two years since Komaru last saw her, and if the world really did come to an end, she must've adapted to her surroundings over time.
She just didn't know it was only under technically-two months.
"That's right. She survived Junko's final trial, and by the end of it all Junko executed herself as punishment." She nodded as her smile faded once more. "After she escaped, we rescued her and her friends, and recruited them into the Future Foundation."
"But around three months ago, we received a video message showing Junko Enoshima was still alive." C added rubbing his chin. "We were baffled at how it was possible, we actually examined what was left of her remains when your sister was rescued."
"H-Her remains...?" This was one of those timely bits of Komaru's life where she didn't even know if she wanted to know.
"There was no way she was still alive after the autopsy, yet three months later she reappeared."
"At least over the video message." The C member clarified. "Not only did she assure us it was really her, but she declared war on the Future Foundation following her return."
"B-But what does this have to do with my sister...?" There was a brief silence once more as the woman took the touchscreen back.
"That's... Part of the problem." She frowned. "About two weeks after the video message, your sister went missing completely from the Future Foundation." Komaru's heart hastened a little as she heard this. Her sister was not only missing, but disappeared entirely from the Future Foundation? How was she expected to believe that? Then again, over 90% of the things she witnessed today she couldn't believe, so she started reaching that point where anything was possible. "We don't have full details on where she went or why she disappeared, but we do believe we know who her abductor was." The woman said, handing Komaru back the touchscreen.
Now it was displaying a girl she had never seen before. She had relatively soft violet eyes with bobbed black hair, the bangs of it stretching down almost to her chin. She also had very faint but noticeable freckles across the bridge of her nose, though were hard to see unless you looked close enough at every detail. She also didn't look that much older than her sister, seeming to be another high school student, despite the obvious difference in height she had just by looking at her.
"W-Who's this girl?" Komaru asked curiously.
"Her name is Mukuro Ikusaba, and we believe she was the one behind your sister's disappearance." The woman stated firmly, to Komaru's surprise. This girl was the one who kidnapped her sister? What reason did she have for it? She almost regretted that line of thinking as the woman continued explaining. "She's also the older twin sister of Junko Enoshima, as well as another member of Ultimate Despair."
"W-What?" She was Junko's older sister? Junko even had a sister? She's never once heard of these details in any magazine or article she's read about her, even the news never mentioned these details in gossip magazines. "S-She kidnapped my sister?"
"It's our fault, honestly." C regretted to inform. "When we rescued your sister, she was among the group of survivors we found. We attempted to remove her as a threat but..."
"But your sister interfered." D continued. "When we wanted to recruit them, your sister's only condition was that Ikusaba was to be a member too, or at least not harmed in any way and taken in. Thankfully we never gave her membership status yet which could've put our security detail in jeopardy, but even with this she still managed to abduct Naegi."
"So... She was still working with Junko or whoever?" Komaru assumed.
"To our understanding, yes. We didn't stop keeping tabs on this Ikusaba, either. We kept her under close supervision given her unsteady behavior and required her to attend at least two therapy sessions every other day. We actually thought she was staying well under control of her emotions and psyche given the circumstances, but you can already guess how that went."
"We didn't even know she was in this city until about a week ago when we received intel of her whereabouts from an unknown source. Not only that, but they said you were in the city too, so we came here in the hopes of rescuing one of, if not, both of you at once. At least given your sudden appearance, we can say which of those two it was referring to now."
"A-And you think Naegi's in the city too, right?" Komaru asked.
"To be honest," C replied, "we thought she might've been in an entirely different location at first, but the intel was too promising to shrug off. But after the video announcement of the Bonus Game, we're positive she's still somewhere in the city."
It almost gave Komaru goosebumps remembering the fear she witnessed from watching that video. Seeing a police officer being killed before her eyes, the seemingly cute and innocent children playing with the corpses of officer and announcer from the TV broadcast, and the fashionista Junko herself stating how they declared war on the adults of this city to make it a Utopia for children. Even the last portion of that broadcast, regardless of however brief, was still burned into her mind like a nightmare...
...
...
"I thought all demons were ugly, big sis?" The green girl commented curiously as she looked up.
"Hmhmhm, good point." Junko chuckled as she patted her head. "Anyway, as some of you may have guessed, any of them with an X over them has already been dealt with, so there's no point getting them or trying to catch them dead or alive. However, to anyone who manages to bring one to a Monokuma or child of the city, and if they like you enough, they may let you out of the game and out of the city altogether, and more importantly, alive!"
*click*
"Huh!" Komaru's jaw dropped along with the hacking gun in her hands as everything became still.
There was no way for her could believe it, she didn't even want to believe it! But given every single thing she's heard up to this point, every detail she was aware of up till now, there's no way this one could possibly be fake. Being the last image shown before them, there she saw it- a picture of her own sister, Makoto Naegi, labeled as one of the many demons displayed on the television. Much to her relief the lack of an X over it indicated she was still alive, thank god. However, as if sensing the slightest trickle of hope emanating from every viewer watching this, Junko continued.
"And before you, is the ugliest, filthiest, dirtiest demon known to mankind, and one who's free game when hunting." Junko said with a wide smile. "The conditions for her aren't necessary or wanted by any of the Monokuma's whatsoever. The only condition is: You better bring her in dead..."
...
...
Given all the details she's heard up to this point, everything did make sense. Junko somehow survived whatever execution or punishment they were talking about, and was mad at Naegi for ruining whatever plans she had behind the Mutual Killing Game. So to ensure the perfect revenge, she somehow had Naegi abducted, by Junko's own sister Mukuro Ikusaba no less, and taken to Towa City where she's been held prisoner for all this time, and regardless of whether she somehow escaped or Junko threw her out and forced her to take part of this game, is running around the city being hunted by the Monokumas and possibly people who want to get out of this game badly enough to want to kill her.
She didn't know it at this point, but this was Junko's interpretation of the perfect revenge. It would've been one thing to just abduct and kill her, but no. When she wanted revenge, she was going to do so in a way that made everything all the more satisfying. And what better way to do that than force her sister into another game and televise the situation to ensure everyone would feel the greatest of despair when Junko finally beats her once and for all!
It was a rematch. This entire fiasco was nothing more than a rematch of Despair vs Hope, one that Junko wanted in order to "correct" the loss of her last game.
"T-There's still...one thing I don't get." Komaru spoke up once more. "If you kept an eye on her sister so much, how did she pull off kidnapping Naegi?"
"That's the piece we've been working on since her disappearance." The woman said, rubbing her chin in thought. "With all the tabs we've kept on her, it was near impossible for her to pull something off on her own. On top of that, it also doesn't explain how we received the video message out of nowhere either. The only conclusion we came to for the time being was that she must've been working with the Remnants of Despair the entire time."
"That...That reminds me," Komaru remembered, "you mentioned Remnants before, right? What are-"
"I hate to interrupt, but we should probably put the conversation on hold until after we escape." Komaru blinked to herself at the realization. Given all these details about her sister, Junko, and this mysterious abductor, she almost completely forgot about the fact that she came here to escape, not socialize on whatever popular Kidnapping Dramas they were explaining.
"Y-You're right..." Komaru nodded in agreement. "We need to hurry up and escape, we'd probably get killed in a place like this...And I'm...I mean... I want to see my family again...A-And I want to save Naegi first too, b-but..." She was trembling. She's never felt so torn between the overwhelming fear that enveloped her, and her love and concern she had for wanting to save her sister again.
"It's alright," the woman said with a calm smile patting her shoulder, "when we get out of here we're going to come back with a lot of reinforcements. I promise we'll save everyone we can, including Naegi." Her words were very encouraging in these dark times, in this hopeless present. Yet, Komaru smiled warmly all the same. She wasn't abandoning her sister, she knew that for a fact. They were just going to get more prepared and come back with a way to save not just herself, but the entire city. That way everyone, not just Naegi, would be safe and secure from this horrifying nightmare.
"That reminds me...About your family..." The man on the woman's left began to speak.
"Hold it," the woman quickly interrupted, scanning the surroundings once more, "what was that?...Do you hear that?" Komaru and the other two members looked around a bit, noticing the eerie silence filling their surroundings. With so much going on, it was impossible to feel calm in a place like this.
"...erilly...eed adul..." The steady sound of childish singing slowly began to grow louder.
"Is that...singing?" Komaru wondered looking around the playground.
"...undred corpses? Let's have a competition."
"Over there!" The B member suddenly shouted pointing to his left.
Looking across the playground, all their eyes were met with the strangest of kids seen today. Even as the surrounding singing became louder, that didn't distract from his appearance. He seemed to be a regular, average, boy, possibly around the age of 8 given his height. He looked like he was wearing what was just a standard elementary school uniform consisting of a blue vest with an A symbol on the right shoulder of it, and a white buttoned shirt underneath with sleeves stretching down to his beige short pants.
What caught their attention though was the bizarre helmet he was wearing. It looked just like a Monokuma's, granted with some noticeable differences. For starters, there was a solid red line splitting it right down the middle, separating the right side of his white face with the other one. Unlike the other Monokumas however, this one didn't have a black half to his face, but a dark red one, red like pools of blood that were splashed together to form the dark creepy imagery of his mask.
At least it would've if blood was red, but who's ever heard of red blood and not pink blood...
Yet out of all of this, that wasn't even the surprising part about his appearance. The surprising part was just that- his appearance! What was he doing here of all places with all the riots going on around? Where were his parents? For that matter, even if his parents were killed in the riots, why was this kid just sitting casually atop a plastic side with all this violence going on?
"A kid?" It was hard for Komaru to keep her composure, the unease settling in even further as the singing became louder.
Then they saw it. Not one, two, nor three, but four Monokuma sprouted up from behind the slide next to the kid, the fourth one holding the corpse of a what appeared to be a Future Foundation member, possibly the same one that left for the diner. Also unlike the Monokumas she came across up to now, these appeared more beastly than the ones she previously encountered, these standing on all fours like an actual bear.
"Get back!" The B member warned leaping in front of Komaru. His heroic blocking was short lived yet still invaluable as one of the several Monokumas suddenly attacked him, tackling him past Komaru as it gorged it's teeth into his flesh. Komaru could only look on in horror, paralyzed with the unrelenting fear and despair spreading through her veins once more. If the horrific sight wasn't enough to make her waver, it was the bloodcurdling screams of agony the man let out that truly drove her to horror.
"C'mon, this way!" The other man quickly warned, leading her to the helicopter. It was the only sense of clarity Komaru's mind could register at that moment. Get to the helicopter, get to safety. That was as simple to understand as she needed.
The man himself wasted no time helping her into it, pushing her through the doorway as soon as she got even one foot on the flying machine. Unfortunately his quick assistance would prove useless in his own escape as not two seconds after Komaru looked back, the man was tackled across the entrance, pushing him away to his untimely death by another Monokuma.
The only thing Komaru could focus on was shutting the helicopter door as fast as possible, throwing herself to the side of it as she cried while closing the metallic doors with all her might. Barely a foot away from it's full closure did another Monokuma paw squeeze it's way through the entrance, trying to gain some literal foothold within the copter before Komaru could close it. Still, like all other things, Komaru adapted. She wasted no time quickly kicking at the black metallic paw as it growled with rage until it was finally out of the vehicle once more, closing the door with utmost haste.
It was then that Komaru collapsed to her knees. She was safe. Everything was going to be perfectly fine. The door was locked, she was inside the helicopter, and it would take her away to somewhere safer. Then, after a bit of rest and getting whatever help she needed, she would come back to the city, find her sister and the rest of her family, then they would all live happily ever after like a fairytale or a children's book.
But it was only then that fate dawned on her, hearing some mechanical noise near the cockpit. This wasn't a children's story, this wasn't anything close to a fairytale. This was reality. A reality where people really died, and happy endings were almost never present. And it was the lone Monokuma, the one hammering away and toying with the flying mechanics of this contraption, that reminded her of that. All she could do was let out a pleading cry as the Monokuma pulled back on the throttle, lifting the machine into the sky once more to a despair worse than before.
"No, waiiiiiiiiiiit!"
The sudden blackness of the scene was brought into detail as two hands pressed against the glass window of the helicopter, Komaru's panicked face slowly revealing in the darkness as the light cleared up once more. This wasn't happening was the one thing she got tired of telling herself. She didn't want this to happen, she refused to believe it was happening, but it was happening one way or another no matter how much she begged. The only thing she could do at that point was plead for another miracle to rescue her as they flew over the very city itself.
There was nothing she could do in this situation that would ensure her survival. If she tried to exit the vehicle, she would plummet to her death. If she tried to fight the Monokuma barehanded, it would rip her to shreds. And if she tried shooting at it with her hacking gun, she was just as likely to hit the control console, ruining the plane itself and hurtling them through the sky until they crashed. Even on the cosmically impossible chance she somehow managed to outmatch the Monokuma with her bare hands, somehow managed to summon some sort of inner strength to rip the creature itself apart, she was still at a loss. She had no idea how to fly this thing! Even if she got it on autopilot, another impossibility since the various switches made it hard to tell what did what, that would only leave her flying around in circles until her plane ran out of fuel!
There was no hope for her. All she could do was sit back and endure the frightful ride until it was over, one way or another.
*clang*
And apparently it was going to be over faster than she expected, because the next thing she saw following this noise was the Monokuma with the broken steering throttle in its paws, poking it's chin innocently like a child who didn't know what they did just now. And like everything else, Komaru was left with no time to even ponder the scene before her as the plane suddenly turned harshly, sending her colliding to the left of the plane fast as it began to land out of control.
That in itself soon became a scene of Komaru suddenly being thrown to the very back of the plane, the gravity and force of the descent pinning her arms and legs to the wall as the plane shot straight down in a nose dive. Fear. Nothing but unrelenting fear filled Komaru's mind as they fell. Little by little, the vibrations of the plane steadily became worse, shaking little more with each passing second as gravity pulled their plane stronger with each shake. There was nothing to hold on to. She couldn't even hold herself in fright due to the force pushing her arms back against the plane. All she could do was wait. Wait for the inevitable death was that sure to claim her, the one that slowly absorbed her in a bright light as the plane finally crashed.
...And yet, that death never came. All that did was a pain that shot all throughout her body as she wa suddenly shot straight into the front wall of the plane behind the pilot seats. She didn't know if she passed out at that point or if she was going to because her vision was obscured by a darkening haze from the collision, one that she was struggling to resist. Her body hurt, everything hurt, yet she still pushed herself to the side of the plane where the door thankfully broke off from the impact, crawling through it until her body collapsed onto the ground heavily.
I need to get out of here... She screamed to herself. Despite the pain shooting through her, the fear that was consuming her, she still forced herself to pick herself up and move forward. Even if she couldn't feel her legs at the time, even though her heart was ready to give out at any moment, she pulled herself forward with her arms, crawling away from the wreckage of the plane in an attempt to stay alive. She was weak. She was terrified. She was living in hell. Yet every time she wanted to die on the spot, her body didn't listen to her. All it did was keep pushing herself forward.
*KA-BOOM!*
If her heart could burst through her chest, that would've been the time to do so as she heard the exhilarating and horrific explosion of the plane behind her. Maybe that's why her body kept pushing itself. It knew the plane was going to explode any second, and it needed to stand clear of the wreckage as far as it could take her. She began to understand that even if her mind was cut off from her body at that point, her body would still push her through whatever situation came over her.
At least that's what she told herself before a Monokuma stood before her. And then another. And then another. And then some more until dozens upon dozens of Monokuma surrounded her in one massive circle. It didn't even decide to end there either. The very rooftops along the streets, the many intersections and stoplights that stood above her, all of them were being swarmed by hundreds of Monokumas, each with that sinister smile, each with that round tummy, each and everyone one of them that could tear her apart in various gruesome fashions. She was too weak to lift her arms any higher. She was too exhausted to try running through them as far as her legs could carry.
From the exhaustion in her heart, and the cloudiness filling her mind, all she could do was succumb to the darkness as she finally last consciousness, never seeing what fate would befall her after this moment.
The air remained silent in that moment. All they did was continue to look at her as if having no idea what to do here. She was there, they were to kill adults, and yet none of them budged forward. All they did was clear a small path to her from the front side as a lone figure began walking forward, their face covered from the scenery. All that could be seen were the ragged clothes they were wearing, the chains hanging around their pants. And the lone hand calling from a cellphone that was covered in a leather, wooly, striped mitten.
*ring*
*ring*
*ring*
"Hey there, pal. Guess who I found?"
"Naegi?!"
"Oooooh, so close, but afraid not. I find her sis if you're interested."
"..."
"Oh c'moooon, you must be a little excited to meet her sister, right?"
"Just tell me where she is."
"Oh she's right before me. But I think I'll take her back to HQ first, she seems pretty beat up, probably get her some rest before-"
"I MEAN WHERE'S NAEGI!"
"Hey, easy easy, she's around...I think...I'll be honest I haven't seen her in the last week alone, your sister's been busting my butt with all these chores and preparations."
"...She's not my sister..."
"Right, right, and you're not a traitor." There was a brief unsteady silence as the figure watched two Monokumas beginning to drag Komaru away, following them. "You know, I really have to know. What do you hope to gain outta this?"
"..."
"From what I last heard from Naegi herself, you two seemed to have gotten in a pretty big fight. Well, three of you if you count that Principal's girl, what was her name...Kyo- something something. What did you do to make Naegi so mad at the two of you?"
"That's none of your business..."
"Oh come on now. I know I'm just a a cockroach compared to the rest of you, but you could share a little information at least." The returned silence was all he needed to hear. "Fine, fine, too personal, I get it. But you could at least tell me if I'm on the right path, riiiight?"
"You want to know what happened, I want to know about Naegi. So you first."
"Sorry, but Junko threatened to cut off my other pinkie if I give too many details again. Which makes me wonder which one since the first thing she cut off was my middle finger on my right hand..."
"Why did you bother calling me then if you don't have anything valuable or necessary?"
"I'm just letting you know how things are proceeding, you know for old time's sake."
"And...?" Whoever he was talking to, they knew him better than most. He never did things simply out of casualness.
"And just to see how you're holding up too. After all, the Future Foundation is hunting you too now from what I heard, and I doubt they'll be forgiving after what you've done."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...Ok, ok, I get it, back off, right? Then at least let me say one more thing."
"What?"
"...Your family is coming for you-"
*click*
The figure just stared at the phone for a few seconds before chuckling to themselves, pocketing it once more.
"It doesn't matter. She'll be fine, they'll all be fine." The white-haired boy stared into the glistening sun with a grin. "Because by the time it's over, they'll finally realize how much stronger the power of hope truly is compared to despair...even if this entire city has to burn..."
...
...
...
A/N: And another fun chapter down the drain ^^ As you might've expected, some spoils in the game are going to be presented a bit early like the one above here- you needn't worry though for 3 reasons: one, i did this for anyone who knows and was reading my last fanfic too. 2, I only do it because I only spoil possibly miniscule spoilers as to the big hefty spoilers, so you'll never have to worry about those till towards the end like always. And 3, also due to the fact like my other fanfic, I add in some verily big surprises and plot twists, all of which will get revealed over time.
So in a manner of speaking, I replace the old minor plot twists with more prominent and major ones- like the one in the last story with who the puppet master was for Junko's true reasoning for targeting Naegi..
And on another note, would like to remind everyone not to expect daily updates from this fic or even once every few days of updates. I do what I can but I got a job now and school at the same time, so managing this with my school work will be a bit tricky, especially since I need to replay the game for those "by-the-scene/word-for-word" parts (which I don't have to worry about as much since most of the stuff is going to be changed up like shown above, as well as some parts rewritten entirely). But i'll always do what I can when I can.
So as always, leave a like, fave, and review to leave your thoughts and details. I am loving the feedback I got from the first chapter alone with it's comments and follows, those always help big time with getting the energy to write longer faster chapters and updates.
Trust me guys, this is going to be one hell of a ride X)!
PS: If anyone finds the sound effect i used for the helicopter running weird, i apologize XP but due to the lack of known sound effects in the worded-world, i found a site to help with that since it'll be needed for a lot of action scenes...